Furnace.



No. 729,681. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1903.

"1 G. SELLECK.

- FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 id m fneaaea rm: rmmus Finns co: moruuwo wAsmNc-wm b. c

PATENTED JUNE 2, 1903.

T. G. SELLEGK.

FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1902.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

Patented June 2, 1903.

'TATENTE OFFICE.

THEODORE e- SELLECK, or GI-IIOAGQ, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR To s'rEnL COMPANY, or onIcAeo, ILLINOIS, A'CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

FU R n-nos.

srnorrrchrxon forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,681, dated-Tune 2, 1903.

Application filed May 19. 190a.

Beitknown'thatl, THEODORE G, SELLnox,

a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chi cago, inthe countyof Cook andState ofIllinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements inFurnaces, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates particularly to fur naccs constructed to maintain a high and substantially uniform degree of heat within compartments or receptacles located in the furnace, but to which the fire does not have accesssuch, for instance, as convertingfurnaces, case-hardening furnaces, enameling-furnaces, and the like. t

It is wellknown that in the use of furnaces requiring a sustained and intense heat, such as converting-furnaces, the furnace has to be heated continuously for about a week before it is broughtto thehighestefliciency, and after the contents of the furnace have been subjected to this'intenseheat for a sufficient time to bring about thedesired resultit requires several days more to lower the heat of the furnace to a point where its contents may be discharged. M It thus happens that the time occupied bythe heating and cooling of the furnace, during which timeit is doing little or no effective work in converting the steel contained therein, is much greater thanthe time actually occupiedin the processof conversion andis practically a dead loss.

The object of my invention is to provide a furnace so constructed that a high and uniform degree of heat may be continuously maintained throughout the receptacles or boxes, thus insuring a uniform action of the heat .upon the articles intended to be afiected thereby.

Another object of myinvention is to so construct such a furnace that the boxes may be chargedand discharged'at will from time to time without reducing the heat of the furnace.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a furnace which .may be readily charged and'discharged within a minimum oftime l A further object of myinvention is to provide such a furnace in which the openings through which admittance to the boxes is had A Serial No. 108,059. (No model.)

I may be rapidly and effectivelysealed and un' sealed.

These andsuch other objects as may hereinafter appear are accomplished by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my furnace. Fig- 2 is an end'elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a crosssectionalview on the lines 3 3 of Figs.

land 4 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 4. is a longitudinal section on the lines 4 4 of Figs. 1 and 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view on the lines 5 5 of. Figs. 3 and 4 looking in the direction indicatedby the arrows, and Fig. 6 is a horiz'ontal sectional viewon the lines 6 6 of. Figs.

3 and 4 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

arrangement shown in the drawings is located at the rear of the furnace and is provided with a deflecting-wall (1, arranged opposite to the burner-opening D, so that the flame from a single burner as it strikes the wall 3 will be broken up and deflected thereby and pass downward through the. flue E as a sheet of flame. The flue 'E,"'which extends entirely across. the forward end of the combustionchamber, communicates with a plurality of fiues F, extending forwardly between the piers Gr to a common transverse flue H, adjacent to the forward end of the furnace. The piers G carry arches I, which, however, also extend across the flue H to the front wall of the furnace and form the bottoms of the compartments or boxes J. These boxes J are closed at all points except their forward ends, which open throughthe front wall of the furnace. Supported by the piersG and extending part way up between the boxesJ are walls K. Extending between the boxesJand above and behind the walls K are flues L, while above the boxes J and in free communication with the flues L is a common flue or chamber M. The boxes J and fines L extend backwardly to the wall N, while the chamber M extends from the front wall of the furnace to the wall N and is roofed over by the arch 0.

8m oke-flues P, at the rear corners of the chamber M, lead to the chimneys Q. The forward ends of the boxes Jpreferably terminate somewhatback of the face of the front wall of the furnace, in which case the front wall is provided with niches j, through the rear walls of which access may be had to the interiorof the boxes J.

In the use of my furnace the fire is started in the combustion-chamber B. If fuel such as oil is used, a burner is located at the opening D, and flame under pressure is directed against the fire-wall O, is deflected and broken up thereby, and passes over the fire-wall C and downward through the fine E as a sheet of flame. The intense heat of this flame after passing the wall C is directed against the rear face of the wall N, which in my preferred construction also forms the rear wall for the boxes J. Passing downward through the fine E and forward through the flues F, where it heats the arches I, forming the bottoms of the boxes J, the flame reaches the transverse flue H, where it passes upward through the vertical flues 7t between the arches I, thence over the walls K and backward through the fiues I. M, where it'envelops the'side and top walls of the boxes J, and finally out through the fines P and chimneys Q. It will thus be observed that the boxes are entirely surrounded by the flame except across theirforward ends. The intensity of the heat as it first passes through the combustion-chamber B is somewhat modified by the comparatively great thickness of the wall N. While the flame does not pass directly across the forward ends of the boxes, it will be observed that the ascending sheet of live flame as it passes upward from the flue H completely surrounds the boxes at a point adjacent to their forward ends. In practice these boxes are made of'such depth that when charged the charge will extend forwardly in the boxes only to a point substantially in a line with the walls K, so that the flame passing upwardly through the tines H h will surround .the boxes at a point adjacent to or forward of the forward end of the charge. By this construction I have succeeded in obtaining a substantially uniform heat throughout the boxes and surrounding the charge contained therein. Before charging the furnace it is heated continuously forfrom four to six days, by which ti me the boxes are brought to a degree of heat which does not substantially vary in intensity throughout the entire interior of the boxes. While it is entirely practical to pack the charges in the boxes before heating the furnace, such use of the furnace is unnecessary and undesirable. After the furnace has been brought to a sufficiently high temperature the charges, previously packed in any suitable manner, are inserted through the forward ends of the boxes. I then place plates R entirely across the front aces of the niches j. These plates extend upwardly beyond the tops of the boxes J. The boxes are then sealed by quickly shoveling into the niehesj any suitable material, which fills the nichesj, so as to entirely inclose the forward ends of theboxes J. In practiceIhave found a powdery non-combustible material to be most effective for this purpose,and, if desired, this material may be forced back within the boxes J up to the forward ends of the charges contained therein, thereby more effectively insulating the interior of the boxes Jagainst the outside air and any possible cooling thereby.

My furnace may be most effectively used if the charges are first packed in cases, which may be opened and test pieces of metal withdrawn from the charges without reducing the heating of the furnace, and so the charges need not be removed from the furnace until an examination of such test pieces shows that the process of conversion has been brought to the required-point. Thereupon the plates R are removed, the filling in the niches j is hastily cleaned out of the niches and the.

boxes, and by means of suitable tongs the charges are withdrawn from the boxes, the boxes are cleaned out, fresh charges inserted, and the operation of the furnace continued withoutinterruption. Ordinarily in practice the discharging and charging of eight hundred to one thousand pounds of steel in a twobox furnace can be readily done within half an hour.

I do not here claim the particular process practiced in the use of my furnace which has been herein partially outlined, but reserve the right to cover that by another application to be filed.

Obviously various changes can be made in the exact arrangement described by me without departing from the spirit of my invention, and such changes are contemplated hereby.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a furnace of the class described, provided with a box, a combustion-chamber, a flue extending forwardly from said chamber and below and longitudinally of said box, fines extending along each side and across the top of said box, partitions extending longitudinally of said box and separating said IIO first-named flue from said lateral flues, and a vertical flue connecting said firstmamed flue at its forward end with said lateral and top flues, substantially as described.

2. A furnace of the class described, provided with a box and a combustion-ch amber, the rear wall of said box forming a part of the rear wall of the combustion-chamber and having the face thereof exposed within the combnstionchamber inclined and arranged to deflect the flame from the combustionchamber. into a flue arranged immediately below and extending longitudinally of the box, substantially as described.

3. A furnace of the class described, provided with a box, a combustion-chamber arranged rearwardly of said box, a flue extending forwardly from said combustion-chamber and along the under side of said box, a vertical fl'ue communicating with said first-named flue near the forward end of said box, and leading to horizontal flues extending rearwardly along the sides of said box, partitions extending longitudinally of said boxand interposed between said first-named flue and said horizontal flues, and a horizontal flue extending rearwardly along the top of said box, substantially as described.

4. In a furnace of the class described, the

combination with a box, opening at its forward end through a wall of the furnace, of said wall provided with a recess surrounding the open end of said box and opening upwardly through said wall, and removable means for closing the face of said recess whereby a pocket is formed to receive a mass of material for closing the open end of said box, substantially as described.

5. A furnace of the class described, provided with a plurality of boxes, a combustionchamber, a flue communicating with said combustiolrchamber, and extending transversely across the rear ends of said boxes, flues opening from said transverse flue, and extending forwardly along the under sides of said boxes, a second transverse flue communicating with said last-named fines, and ex between said boxes and in free communication with a horizontal flue, or chamber, ex

tending across the tops of said boxes, substantially as described.

THEODORE G; SELLECK.

Witnesses:

M. E. SHIELDS,

O. R. BARNETT. 

